Mobile touch proliferates: Is UI design keeping pace?

This article is part of EDN's Hot Technologies: Looking ahead to 2013 feature, where EDN editors and guest contributors examine some of the hot trends and technologies in 2012 that promise to shape technology news in 2013 and beyond.

You know a technology is “hot” when tech giant Microsoft
jumps on board, as it did recently with its Surface tablet
computer (Figure 1). In this case, the hot technology isn’t
the tablet form factor—certainly a technology worthy in its
own right—but the touch interface it sports.

Figure 1 The Surface Windows touchscreen tablet from Microsoft is receiving praise for its hardware design; on the software/interface side, not so much.

There’s no question that multitouch technology, typically
in the form of capacitive touchscreens, has fueled the
explosive growth in mobile devices. Microsoft’s recent entry
promises to further the trend, as touch-enabled products
become available that blur the lines between PCs, notebooks,
and tablets.

But it’s not just about the hardware; a touch device’s
operating system and applications need to be designed with
that touch interface in mind. Apple’s elegant
software user interface (UI) in its original iPhone
largely achieved that five years ago, letting
users easily and intuitively interact directly
with their devices—and apps—in a new
and powerful way.

So it’s surprising to see so many new
apps sporting UIs that look as if they were
designed for a mouse, or featuring virtual
representations of traditional hardware
interfaces. The latter, of course, can
make sense in cases where there may
be no real alternatives—such
as with a computer keyboard
for inputting
text, or a music
keyboard for
playing a virtual
instrument—but they’re
hardly ideal.

Figure 2 Though the use of virtual knobs (and cables) in this iPad version of a classic hardware analog synthesizer—the Korg MS20—is understandable, their continued use in many new synthesizer and music apps seems far less justifiable.

What’s with the continued use of virtual knobs for controls, for example? These are still prevalent in
a lot of audio and music production apps (Figure 2). There’s
no question that their function is intuitively understood by
everyone, but trying to manipulate a 2-D virtual knob effectively
on a touchscreen is a different matter altogether. It’s
easy to imagine better touch design alternatives (Figure 3).

Figure 3 The Borderlands iPad granular synthesizer offers a unique, multitouch interface designed to let users “engage with sonic material on a fundamental level, breaking free of traditional interaction paradigms such as knobs and sliders.”

It’s understandable why many developers may feel a need
to mimic traditional hardware interfaces or use familiar
mouse-driven-style interfaces in their applications. At first
glance, these are comfortable and intuitive approaches for
developers and end users alike, and—in the case of the former—can often look “cool.” But they are not necessarily
optimal for the touchscreen interface—often far from it—and
certainly don’t take full advantage of its potential.

Incredibly, Apple itself is at least partly to blame, having
encouraged the use of “skeuomorphic” design—the idea of
incorporating design elements of an older product into a
new design, even though they no longer
serve any purpose other
than to provide a familiar
and comfortable look.
An example would be an
e-book app that presents
its content in a virtual
paper book interface,
complete with a folded
“crease” down the middle
and stacked “page edges”
on either side.

This is a classic case of form over function—an area in which
marketing-centric Apple has stumbled in
the past—and, ironically, a path away from
Apple’s trademark elegance and simplicity.
Thankfully, a recent shake-up in Apple’s executive
ranks suggests we will see a renewed focus on
cleaner, more functional UI designs from the company and,
by extension, from app developers.

That’s encouraging news for users of touch-based interfaces,
and a sign that this hot technology won’t be cooling
down anytime soon.

Also watching:

Wireless charging. Typically based on inductive
coupling, wireless-charging technology—which enables
devices to be charged by being placed on a charging surface
(Figure 4)—has been used in some niche applications for
some time. Now, an increasing number of wireless power solutions
from major semiconductor vendors suggests that wireless
charging may finally be catching on in the consumer market
as mobile devices of various types proliferate.

The personal cloud. Cloud-computing products and
services aimed at individual consumers are changing the way we manage our data (Figure 5), whether it’s through the
use of public services, such as Dropbox or iCloud, or home
NAS devices with cloud features that allow remote access.
The trend is so obvious and unmistakable that it has led one
research firm to predict the personal cloud will replace the
PC as the center of our digital lives by 2014.

Figure 5 Enabled by products and services that allow us to store and access our data remotely, personal clouds promise to free us from many of the limitations of our mobile devices and PCs.